Amusements

The things which amuse us do much toward moulding our characters for good or evil. It Is, therefore, needful that the young Christian should be as careful about his amusements as his duties. There are certain principles by which he may be guided.

Amusements that Injure the body, weaken the mind, or corrupt the morals ought to he avoided.

So with amusements that vitiate

A Test ’ rt i

our joys. The German proverb says, “The good is enemy of the better and the best.” Amusement, fun, and pleasure may be good; but joy Is better. Amusement is the dash of the spray, the sparkle on the surface; joy Is the flow of the deep current in the soul. We should not sacrifice the current for the spray or the sparkle. Whenever, therefore, we find that amusement is entrenching upon our joy, we

should sacrifice amusement, that joj may be saved.

Amusements should always be avoided when they are associated with any great evil institution. The people of Israel played before the golden calf. Their play was associated with the evil institution of idolatry. Paul said that he could eat meat offered to idols, for he regarded an idol as nothing, and it would not, therefore, injure him. He had a right to eat, but he had the higher right which was the right to give up his personal right for the good of the weaker brother. He therefore determined to surrender this right and exercise the higher right of self-denial for the benefit of others. Two men were in a boat above Niagara Falls. When they saw that the current was taking them down, by a bold stroke they reached the bank, and there on a tree was the placard, “No trespassing on these grounds.” A farmer appeared with a fierce bull dog at his side, and one of the men was cruelly torn. The magistrate at Niagara used these words which are worthy of a place on the fly leaf of your Bible: “You had a right, sir, to placard your land, but in this case there was involved the higher right to surrender your right for the good of humanity, and, because you failed to do so, I send you to jail for thirty days.” We may contend for the Christian privilege of Indulging in certain things, while we forget the higher privilege of self-denial that we may have a larger influence for good.

A safe rule for the young convert is never to indulge In any amusement that links him with a great evil institution. Try the ^^^^^^”^^ cTrd table, the dance, anJ the theatre by this test. The card table Is a world-wide evil institution which you find in all countries, Christian and pagan. It is the gambler’s instrument. It has been blackened by dishonesty, stained by murder, and disgraced by innumerable wrecks of character. A pack of cards is suggestive, not of an Innocent game, but of a great foul Institution which has been a curse to mankind. Shall I Indulge, and thus link myself with this institution.? Or shall I deny myself, that I may not be suggestive of evil?

The square dance may be considered by

some as an innocent pastime, if indulged in

moderately, but in general it may

be said that dancing has become

a world-wide institution of evil. The dance-house cannot be described in polite society.

Dancing is not only worldly, but in many of its

forms it is desperately wicked. Its associations

are malodorous. There may be pleasure in the

physical response to music; shall I yield to it,

and thus associate myself with a bad institution?

The theatre as an institution is also bad.

There are some moral plays, as well as some

moral actors and actresses, but, so,

^11. The Theatre

far as I can find, there is not a

moral theatre in the world. Edwin Booth determined to establish a moral theatre, before whose footlights there should not be a display of spectacular obscenity. The result was that Booth’s theatre failed and paid five cents on the dollar. Henry Irving determined that the Lyceum theatre should be moral, but the management had to change its quality to keep from bankruptcy. Mary Anderson left the stage, and declared that on moral grounds she did not wish her children to attend the theatre. Mc-Cready would not allow his children to go to the theatre. Edwin Forrest, after hearing Dr. Brantly in Augusta, Ga., preach a sermon denouncing the theatre for its immorality, lingered after the service long enough to take the preacher by the hand and say to him, “Sir, what you have said to-night is true, only you have not painted the picture as dark as it is.”

There is a difference between pleasure in the midst of business, and making a business of A Living pleasure. The pleasure-seeking

spirit is a living death, for” she

that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth “(I Tim. 5:6). If you will turn to Job 21. 12, you will find some of the results of this pleasure-seeking spirit. “They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? and what profit shall we have if we pray unto Him.^” When the pleasure-seeking spirit fills a man’s life, he ceases to desire God. He says to Him, “Depart from us.” He sees no profit in prayer or in the service of the Almighty. Pleasure is his god, and he becomes vain and empty like the god he worships.

The picture of a pleasure-seeking life which is given us in the second chapter of Ecclesiastes

Is enough to startle one who desires to be something or do something in the Solomon’s world. Solomon was rich enough Experience to have everything that he desired, and he set himself to seeking pleasure. The result was that he hated life, and declared that “All is vanity and striving after wind.” Some one has described the palace of pleasure as a building “which has a gorgeous street entrance adorned with statuary and brilliant with variegated lights, and the passerby is lured in by strains of music. The exit is a dark, narrow, concealed rear-way which leads into the fields where swine are kept.” As a gentleman entered the theatre several years ago, the usher beckoned to him with the words, “This is the way to the pit.” The word “pit” was so suggestive that the man turned and left the theatre in haste. However beautiful the entrance to the pleasure-seeking life, and however entrancing the music, the exit is Into the swine field, and near the swine field is the precipice over which sooner or later we fall into the pit.

The danger Is that the pleasure-seeking spirit may displace the serious work of life. In the parable of the sower, the seed was “choked by the pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14), and A Danger when one makes up his mind that

Signal ^yjg gy(j Qf ijf g jg simply to have a

good time, duty is neglected, sacred obligations are ignored, business lags, the prospects of life wither, and the end is despair. Here is a good place to hold the red flag of danger. When the Duke of Orleans was in this country, he happened to be in a small village when a circus was there. He could not obtain dinner or any sort of service. The people of the hotel informed him that no one would work that day, for everybody was going to the show. Such a holiday once in a while might produce little harm, but suppose that village should decide to quit work and attend the show every day; the result would be stagnation and death. Just so with the life of a man who allows pleasure to displace business, who lets fun and frolic swallow up the serious duties of life. The Romans became so greedy for amusement that they demanded great outlay in purchasing wild animals and gladiators for their enjoyment in the arena. This pleasure-seeking spirit so enervated the people of Rome that they became an easy prey to the serious Northmen who came down upon them.

As with the nation, so with the individual. Pleasure-seeking weakens character and makes it easy for us to be captured and Inglorious

destroyed by evil habits. I have Retreat

read of some cavalry-men who, during five or six years of rest, taught their horses to dance to the music of the band. It was great sport, but, when they were riding into battle and the band began to play, hoping to inspirit the soldiers, the horses stopped in the charge and began to dance. The result was the enemy swept down upon them and conquered them. Many a man has lost the battle of life for the same reason. He is so possessed by the pleasure-seeking spirit that, when he ought to be serious and dutiful, he is dancing, or gambling, or in some other way frittering away his time.

After Napoleon Bonaparte had killed the Duke D’Enghien, the indignation of the French people was so intense that there was danger of a revolution. The wily Emperor quieted their consciences by producing for them the most magnificent ballet that Paris had ever seen. They rushed to the theatre and forgot their grievances. It is hard for conscience to assert itself when the pleasure-seeking spirit is master.

Everything that any one ought to enjoy, the Christian may enjoy. What is sinful or hurtful The Better body, mind, or soul, should not y be indulged in by any one, and

such indulgence displaces a purer enjoyment. If the young Christian will take Jesus Christ as the umpire of his life, submitting to Him his pleasures as well as his duties, his life will be full of light, and the shadows that come will only refresh. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” And this light never becomes darkness. It grows “brighter and brighter till the perfect day.”